Question

Three jewels of Kannada literature are Pampa, Ponna and __________.
A) Paara
B) Pusa
C) Ranna
D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint:
In Kannada, the Jain age of literature has been known as the “Augustan age” of Kannada literature with writings of nearly 200 authors considered important. Kannada is the only language that has a Jain version of Ramayana and Mahabharata in addition to the Brahmanical version of the same.

Complete answer:
A wide range of genres and subjects were covered by the Medieval Kannada literature which can be broadly classified under the Virashaiva, Vaishnava, Jain, and secular traditions. AdiKavi Pampa, Sri Ponna and Ranna. These are three medieval poets belonging to the Jain community. Pampa was famous for his work Vikramarjuna Vijayam which was Mahabharata in the Jain version with Arjuna as a hero. He also wrote Adipuranam. For his enormous contributions to literature, he was Adi Kavi. Contemporary of Pampa was Sri Ponna. He was the court poet of Rashtrakuta king Krishna III. He received from his patron the titles of Ubhaya-Chakravarthi and Kavichakravarthi. Around 950, He wrote Santipurana for which he became famous. Other classics by him include Jinaksharamale. Ranna was the court poet of Western Chalukya kings Satyashraya and Tailapa II. He along with AdiKavi Pampa and Sri Ponna are called the “three gems of Kannada literature”. Ranna wrote Ajitapuaran in 993. His other classics include Sahasa Bhima Vijaya written in 982. Earlier to this, Ranna was patronized when he wrote Parashurama Charita, by Western Ganga minister Chavundaraya in which he compares his patron to Parashurama.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note:
Until about the 12th century, the earliest known literary works were mostly authored by the Jainas along with a few works by Brahmins and Virashaivas, and thus this period is known as the age of Jain literature.